Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1780s:
Iowa Event
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Julien Dubuque Befriends Natives
Julien Dubuque, a French-Canadian, traded with the Mesquakie Indians in Iowa and became friends with them. The Indians shared the location of their secret lead mines with him.
Find out more about lead mining in Iowa. - 1783:
U.S. Event
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Peace of Paris or Treaty of Paris
The American Revolution ended with the signing of the Peace of Paris. Britain recognized the United States as an independent nation. In addition, the United States gained rights to large amounts of land in North America. All the land from the Appalachian Mountain west to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes south to Florida was granted to the United States.
- 1785:
U.S. Event
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Land Ordinance of 1785
This law passed by Congress required every township to set aside a section of land (640 acres) to support public education. The land could be sold and the proceeds used for public education.
Find out more about the ordinance. - 1785:
Iowa Event
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Land Ordinance of 1785
The United States government created a plan that gave order to the settlement of the land it wanted to sell. The plan was called the Land Ordinance of 1785. The Land Ordinance defined how new states could be admitted to the Union from the Old Northwest Territory. It also defined the methods to be used for surveying the undeveloped and unclaimed land. Iowa was admitted to the Union under the provisions of this act.
Find out more about how the Land Ordinance of 1785 brought order to the land. - 1786:
U.S. Event
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Farmers Rebel
Massachusetts farmers, lead by Daniel Shays, took over a federal arsenal and a state court to protest heavy taxes on farmers. It became known as "Shays Rebellion."
Find out about farmers' strikes in Iowa. - 1787:
U.S. Event
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Early Steamboats
The era of the steamboat began in America in 1787. It was in this year that John Fitch conducted a trial run of his steamboat on the Delaware River. It was Robert Fulton who is considered the first person to use steamboats as a successful commercial enterprise. Steamboats were used to carry products and passengers up and down the Mississippi River and other rivers in North America. In the mid-1800s many immigrants arrived in the territory that became Iowa by steamboats.
Steamboats would not arrive in Iowa until the 1820's. - 1787:
U.S. Event
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Northwest Ordinance of 1787
This act passed by Congress created a way to admit new states into the United States. It allowed settlers to create territorial governments. After the territory had 5,000 adult white males it could send representatives to Congress. When the area had 60,000 people living in it, the territory could become a state.
Find out about Iowa's path to statehood. - 1788:
U.S. Event
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The U.S. Constitution Ratified
The U.S. Constitution specifies duties the federal government and duties of the state governments. Examples of state duties include setting up town governments, regulating trade within the state, establishing schools, passing marriage laws.
- 1788:
Iowa Event
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Julien Dubuque Establishes First European Settlement in Iowa
Julien Dubuque is considered the first white person to live permanently in what is now Iowa. He and other French people from Canada lived along Catfish Creek under an agreement with the Mesquakies, whom they hired to work in the lead mines near the present city of Dubuque. Lead was a valuable commodity, and Dubuque sold most of it in units known as "pigs" in St. Louis, where most of it was used to make ammunition.
Find out more about Iowa's early European explorers.
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